As the “Troopergate” scandal drags on in Albany, it's becoming clear that state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno has become obsessed with getting Gov. Eliot Spitzer to the point that he's bringing shame onto himself.

Sound familiar?

That's precisely what Spitzer's office has been accused of doing in its pursuit of politically damaging information on Bruno.

It's sad that Bruno cannot see the hypocrisy in his actions.

Bruno's latest move came last week, when the state Senate investigations committee he controls hired special counsel to assist in their review of this scandal. The move comes despite independent investigations into the case having been or being conducted by the state attorney general, the Albany County district attorney and the state ethics commission.

Bruno clearly crossed the line with the hiring of the special counsel because he's using a substantial amount of taxpayer money to do it. The special counsel will be paid $450 per hour for his work, up to $500,000.

Bruno defenders have pointed to the fact that state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Albany County District Attorney David Soares are both Democrats, like Spitzer, so they cannot be trusted to be impartial. But these are both men elected by the people to be prosecutors.

Moreover, both have demonstrated a willingness to rise above party loyalty.

Cuomo's own report, while finding that no laws were broken, sharply criticized Spitzer's office and truly set this scandal in motion.

Soares was the district attorney who prosecuted former Democratic state Comptroller Alan Hevesi out of office last year.

The people of New York are much more likely to get an honest assessment of this entire affair from public servants like Soares and Cuomo than they are from a state Senate Majority Leader hired gun.